Gray's Curse
by PeachRin
Summary: What happens when Gray takes off his UMA hat? Cursed since the age of 15, he struggles to find comfort in his situation. Will the appearance of the new city girl be his solution to lift the curse? ClaireXGray
1. Chapter 1

Hello! This is my first fanfiction! Hope you'll enjoy it and Thanks for taking the time to read! :)

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Chapter 1 – The city girl arrives at Mineral Town

Her long blond hair sits nicely on her shoulders as she heaved her two big luggages out of the ship that has bought her here. Her knee-length skirt flutter as a cool ocean breeze swept over the dock. Her long sleeves red checkered shirt was wet at the ends as she wipe off her sweat from her face due to the humid evening. She politely thank the captain for the journey here and wished him a good night before heading towards the shore. A short plump man in a red suit, a yellow bow tie and topped with a red hat with a white stripe was talking to a tall, well-muscled man who was wearing a grey tank top, dark blue jeans and black boots. A towel rested on his neck. The two were conversing happily until the short man notices the arrival of the city girl.

"Are you Claire Richard?" his little black eyes sparkles behind his round spectacles and bushy mustache. When the city girl nodded, he broke into a wide smile. "Welcome to Mineral Town! I am the Mayor of this town. You can call me Mr. Thomas! This is Zack! He is in charge of shipping goods from the town to other places. He will be collecting your shipping everyday at a fixed timing."

Zack gave a wide grin towards Claire and she returned with a polite smile. "Well, it's getting rather late... Lets head over to your farm and get you settled for tonight!" Mayor Thomas exclaimed as he helped Claire carry the smaller luggage. The two bid farewell to Zack and made their way towards the town. Soon, they reached a large clearing. Leaving her luggage at the doors of a building with a curve red roof, Thomas brought her around the farm. He showed her the barn, lumber shack, stable, chicken coop, shipping bins and the special tree where she can get honey from every single day. Claire nodded whenever Thomas sets out to explain the purpose of these buildings and how they operated. Finally, they arrived back at the entrance of the supposedly "house". Thomas's smile disappear as he let out a deep sigh before facing Claire.

"Well, you are actually the first person to ever called after we have placed that cheesy advertisement since a year ago... Look, I understand that you are doubtful about the offer and all... It is a bit run-down... but with hard work and determination, I'm sure it will work out eventually! I have high hopes for you and your farm!"

Claire looked at Thomas as he finished his little speech with beads of water around his eyes and knew what she have to do to assure the poor guy. "I promise that I will do to the best of my abilities to bring this farm to prosper!"

Thomas smiled upon hearing Claire's words. "Well then, I shall come tomorrow afternoon to introduce you to the town's people and teach you about farming! Get some rest!" He started heading back to town. "Oh! Please do not venture South towards the forest past 10pm! It's quite dangerous for a girl like you to go alone! Wild animals usually comes out late at night! Alright! Good Night!" Thomas wave to Claire before leaving.

'Finally... Alone at last...' One of the reasons why Claire decided to leave everything behind and move to the countryside was that she likes the serene scenery... the quiet atmosphere.. the sound of crickets clicking, with raising pitch in each individual click. Turning the knob of the reddish-brown door, she found herself in a well-lit room. A single bed was in the far right corner of the house, two small drawers were place right next to the bed, between them was a calendar on the wall. A bookshelf and the television are next to each other just beside the drawers. A wall clock sits nicely on the wall beside the bookshelf. A cupboard resides the left corner of house and a chest resides the other corner of the house. A round table was placed right smack in the middle of the room, with two cushions on either side of it on the floor. 'Its not much but.. i can make do with these stuff...' She pushed the two luggages till they reached the side of the cupboard and proceeded to unpack the smaller one.

'One down.. meh.. I'll unpack the other one tomorrow..' Looking out of her window, Claire though, 'Aw.. it's a really nice evening..' Glancing at the wall clock which reads 8pm, she grabbed her grey jacket and proceeded to head out for a walk through the forest.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello! this is chapter two of Gray's Curse! Enjoy!

lavendercookie: hey! thanks for reading and reviewing! :) I speak mandarin most of the time as compared to english :)

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Chapter 2 – A Walk to Remember

Crossing the bridge that leads to the forest, Claire found herself at a clearing with lots of tree stumps. A small wooden house sits neatly behind a row of mature Evergreen trees. It's front porch lights were on. Through the small square windows, Claire could see movements in the house. Wanting to avoid any form of human interactions for today, she continued down the road with gentle footsteps. Claire soon reaches a fork, a path leads up the hill and another continues further into the forest. Climbing the gentle slope, Claire started hearing the faint splashes of water. A small waterfall soon came into view. Scanning her surrounding, she spotted a small wooden shack with a roof of pure hot steam over an area of fences.

_'Wow.. is that a... HOT SPRING?! Awesome! I could really use a dip right now!'_ Jogging towards the wooden shack, Claire spotted the wooden plank sign sitting by the doors. **'HOT SPRING EFFECTS: RECUPERATE STAMINA AND FATIGUE. DO NOT DO YOUR BUSINESS IN THE HOT SPRING. TOILETS ARE LOCATED TO YOUR LEFT.'**

_'... does that mean someone did it before so that's why there is such a sign here..?'_ Claire pondered. She shrugged it off and proceeded to slide open the doors. After undressing and neatly place her clothes into the basket, she grabbed a white towel before proceeding for her dip. Slowly sinking into the hot spring water, Claire was immediately brought over by the waves of relaxation. Soaking in the mineral-rich water, she took in the view of the silver moon, the sounds of the small waterfall, the smell of fresh air...

The faint footsteps of an approaching figure climbing up the hill was easily missed by the zoned-out city girl. As the wooden shack came into view, the figure abruptly stops in its track. Taking a whiff of the air, the figure glared at the wooden fence before letting out a deep sigh. Feeling the presence of another, it slowly retreated down the hill and continued down the path that leads further into the forest.

As Claire started to rinse the soap off of her body and face, her eyes subconsciously floated towards the sliding doors. Remembering the wooden plank sign, her eyes suddenly grew wide open._ 'Wait a minute... toilet..? MY FARM DOESN'T HAVE ONE! (O.O) ... I have to climb the hill everyday to use the toilet..? (._.) so much for the free house huh.. doesn't even come with a toilet...'_

...

_'That was amazing!'_ thought Claire as she exited the wooden shack and put on her black watch. _'Woah... it's only 9.15pm.. guess I'll continue exploring!'_ She jogged down the slope and proceeded to continue down the pavement leading to Kappa's lake. Crossing the wooden bridge, Claire soon find herself facing a long stretch of rather steep slope leading towards some sort of large hill. To her left, there was a large clearing filled with yellow flowers in full bloom._ 'I shall climb to the top of the hill another day! Those large patch of grass looks really tempting!'_ Heading towards the large clearing, Claire went on to sit next to an area covered entirely of toy flowers. Intrigued by the beauty of night, she laid down on the bed of soft green grass and closed her eyes, taking in the rich earthy scent of mother nature. Claire felt as if she was sinking into the ground and eventually a soft snore escapes from her.

_"Morning Cocoa!" Claire exclaimed as she open her hands wide to greet her best friend. The mammal happily obliged as it gallop briskly into her arms. As Claire started to stroke its neck, it started to eye the stacks of neatly piled up hay at the side of the farm doors. "Go on!" Encouraging the 4-year-old as Claire patted its neck gently. Sitting against the only live oak tree found on her grandpa's farm, Claire smiled as she observed her steed sink hungrily into the hay. She couldn't believe that this mocha colored mare she have found 3 years ago wandering around the fences of grandpa's farm have grown up into a 15 hands (60 inches) tall and proud individual. Once it's done, it approached Claire and settled itself snuggly beside her under the shade. Everything is so peaceful out here in the countryside compared to the city... As she reached over to stroke Cocoa on the neck again, the rumbling of tractor moving across the wheat field caught her attention. "Oh! HEY GRANDPA!", yelled Claire, as she frantically wave to the old man. "I'M GONNA BRING COCOA TO THE TRAINING GROUNDS!" The old man gave an 'okay' sign with his hand and was about to yell out something in return when it was cut off abruptly._

A high pitch whistle pierced through the night, startling Claire into a sit-up position suddenly. A pang of dizzy spell hit her. _'Ow... my head.. Grandpa...? ...Cocoa? Huh? Where am I..?'_ Rubbing her fingers over her closed eyelids in a circular motion, events of that day played through her mind. A sudden realisation hit her, _'Shucks! WHAT TIME IS IT?!'_ Squinting her eyes on her left wrist, she focused on the blur numbers _'... 2AM?!'_ Scrambling to get up, she started advancing towards the wooden bridge.

Mayor Thomas's words started to jump around in her mind._ **'... do not venture south.. forest... past 10pm.. dangerous.. alone.. wild animals..' **_She felt the palms of her hands becoming wet and cold, her ears perked up and she could almost pick up the faint sound of feet shuffling across the cold hard ground. A gnawing feeling in the back of her mind, she could almost taste this weird, twisted feeling inside the pit of her stomach. Something is watching her. Quickening her pace, she scanned the forest and bushes for any sight of movements.

_"**Cracked."**_

Jerking her head towards the origins of the sound that was further amplified in her mind, she squinted her eyes towards the darkness. She swore she saw a flash of white among the thick trees and bushes. Her heart stopped when she spotted a pair of clear, striking blue eyes staring straight into her own.


End file.
